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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. bank — for money
  3. bank — for money
  4. key — for a lock
  5. bark — to shout
  6. chest — of your body
  7. pound — a weight
  8. cap — a lid
  9. key — the most important part
  10. cap — of ice
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. key — in music
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. chest — of your body
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. cap — a hat
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. chest — a box
  24. bank — of a river

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com